TJHS principal cooks for Super Bowl mania

In the Woolf home, Super Bowl Sunday is considered a national holiday.

"I love NFL football," said Steve Woolf, who played fullback for the Kansas State University Wildcats. "To me, when you're a kid at Christmas and you open your presents, then it's all done. Well, the Super Bowl is kind of that way. You have to extend it any way we can because once it's over, it's over until July."

And Woolf likes to celebrate the Super Bowl holiday, which this year falls on Feb. 6, with a variety of treats.

"It's kind of a tradition at my house to cook up a big pot of green chile and eat it through the day as the Super Bowl holiday is occurring," said Woolf.

Super Bowl Sunday, which is the culmination of the professional football season, is not the only time Woolf pulls out his apron and rolls up his sleeves in the kitchen. And so, as part of Jayni Carey's search for guest-cooks for her televised cooking show, Woolf's name came up.

"Deb Holloway (a TJHS English teacher) had mentioned my name to her, and one thing led to another," Woolf said.

This week, Woolf will share his Super Bowl recipes with viewers on "Jayni's Kitchen," which airs on Sunflower Broadband channel 6. For his Super Bowl treats, Woolf chose green chile, of course, along with a homemade salsa and easy-to-make jalapeÃ±o poppers.

"I thought he chose really excellent recipes for a Super Bowl menu party because the poppers were really fast to make, so you could make them during a commercial break," Carey said. "The green chile was something you could put on in the morning, and you wouldn't have to worry about until game time."

¢ Steve Woolf, Tonganoxie Junior High School principal, will show off his cooking prowess this week on "Jayni's Kitchen," which airs on Sunflower Broadband channel 6.

¢ If you're interested in appearing on "Jayni's Kitchen," or you know someone who would make a good guest-cook, contact Jayni Carey at jayni@sunflower.com.

¢ Recipes from all shows are available on the Web. Log onto: www.6productions.com and click "Jayni's Kitchen."

Woolf, generally speaking, is a self-taught cook. He cooks a lot at home. And he's certainly not afraid of making mistakes.

Even as a youngster growing up in Claflin, Woolf enjoyed playing around in the kitchen. His mother would let him experiment in the kitchen.

"Actually, 'let me' is not the right word," the 42-year-old Woolf said. "Didn't punish me for."

He likes to experiment with dishes on top of the stove, with dishes in the oven and with dishes on the grill. But he says he couldn't possibly coordinate a large meal, so everything would be ready at the same time.

"I'm absolutely no good at that," Woolf said. "My wife is wonderful at that."

At Tonganoxie Junior High, where Woolf is in his sixth year as principal, he enjoys visiting the kitchen. However, he doesn't even dream of cooking there.

"I do like to go back and bother the cooks as much as possible," he said.

And he'll occasionally grab a ladle in the serving line and dish up such kid-favorites as spinach or mixed vegetables, to students.

"I do that as a joke," he said.

Woolf was a self-confident and fun guest, Carey said. His easy manner in front of the camera was evident. Woolf is not a neophyte. He's appeared in commercials, including a Campbell's soup commercial with Denver's Neil Smith, and a Western.

"He has a terrific personality and a lot of enthusiasm for whatever he undertakes," Carey said. "He was a lot of fun to work with."

Often, at the conclusion of "Jayni's Kitchen," Carey's guest will recommend wines to pair with the dishes featured on the show. Woolf's recommendation was something a little more appropriate for a junior high school principal.

"I said, 'Today, we have a 2004 Diet Mountain Dew,'" Woolf said, demonstrating how he cradled the soda bottle in his arms, as if making a wine recommendation. "So we poured it out in a glass. We had some fun with that.